When Mark McGrath first signed up to compete on The Masked Singer, he had no idea he would be a wildcard contestant. The Sugar Ray front man was unmasked as the Orca this week after appearing in only two episodes of the reality series. He was introduced during the third week of The Masked Singer season 5 as the very first wildcard contestant. This is a new twist that producers have added this season to shake up the competition. McGrath made his debut with a rendition of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” He managed to stick around, which resulted in the Raccoon’s elimination. For his second performance, he took on Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” but it wasn’t good enough to save him. This week’s wildcard contestant, Yeti, took his place.

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McGrath is no stranger to reality shows. He appeared on American Idol back in 2005 as a guest judge, then hosted Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll two years later, giving him a connection to The Masked Singer judge and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger. McGrath has also competed on other reality shows, including The Celebrity Apprentice in 2011 and Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.

During an interview with EW, McGrath revealed he didn’t know he would be a wildcard contestant when he first signed up for The Masked Singer season 5. “Information on The Masked Singer is on a need-to-know basis whether you’re performing or a judge, it doesn’t matter,” he said. It wasn’t until his first rehearsal for the show that he found out this important piece of news from The Masked Singer team. McGrath continued, “[The producers were] like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re gonna be a wildcard. We have to change the format up. It’s what we do. Every season we need to spice things up.’ Like I said, they keep it moving. They don’t really give you a chance to ask too many questions.”

The thought of being a wildcard contestant on The Masked Singer season 5 terrified McGrath because he assumed he would have a target on his back from the other contestants. He said, “I was terrified to do the show to begin with. Then to have sort of a bullseye in the back as a wildcard, that was the thing I had to rectify in my mind.” He added that despite “dreading” being a wildcard at first, he “ended up embracing it.” Unfortunately for McGrath, he only had two episodes to embrace that challenge.

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The Masked Singer is a show shrouded in mystery. Every season, producers have to implement strict protocols to make sure none of the celebrity contestants’ identities are spoiled to the public. The celebrities always have to cover their faces when in the studio. Not many crew members actually know who the masked singers are until they’re revealed on the show. It makes sense that the producers of The Masked Singer would wait until the last possible moment to tell some of the contestants that they are wildcards.

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 pm on FOX.

Source: EW

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Jeff Dodge
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Jeff Dodge is a Reality TV News Editor for Screen Rant. A graduate of Western Washington University, he has been an editor and writer for BuddyTV, The BizzNiz, OMGWire and Best Recap Ever. His love of reality competition shows began when Survivor and American Idol debuted in the early 2000s. You can follow Jeff on Twitter @TheJeffDodge.

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